Picture pages

I was talking to Jon on my way home from work tonight when he told me he left the pugs out. Out. Of. Their. Crate. He went to work at 2 and it was now 7:30. OMG I just knew I would be walking into a scene from Apocolypse Now. But I came home to happy pugs and no mess! So proud of them! We'd been letting them stay out for an hour or so at a time, but this was a whole afternoon. Good puggies! Here's a picture of the doll Shannon gave to me for Ling Ling. Love her!

Biz E

This working for tha man thing is really eating into my blog reading time. I'm so behind. Plus I'm not taking as many photos, the shows on the dvr are backing up, there are dishes in the sink. Waa waa boohoo. At least I'm working, and I know any money I make will go toward bringing my babies home. So much to tell you though.
-Our ghetto tivo (the dvr we get free through our cable company since we bundle services) has totally changed our lives. Now when we go to watch tv we click the button with our taped shows instead of looking at the guide to see what's on. I can't stand watching live tv now.
-Have I mentioned that I'm loving my make my own schedule, get to wear crop pants, free Dr. Pepper, kick ass job?
-My fabulous friend Shannon gave Ling Ling her first doll- a cherry scented Barbie sized doll that is Asian and is just beautiful. And Aunt Lisie sent a selection of adorable clothing last week. LL is gonna be all tricked out! Pictures to come soon.
-I went to lunch today with 3 of the ladies from the office and one of them used to be a flight attendant. She would sign up for the adoption runs every year and volunteer to escort babies home from Korea. She would meet the 1st escort in Detroit and fly with the babies on the last leg of the trip. What a cool thing to do. We cried at lunch while she told us how rewarding it was to see the joy on the families' faces when she went through the gate with the baby. And one day a man came up to her and said "You brought my baby home to me and he's here and wants to meet you." And the little boy (age 8) stepped forward, hugged her and said "Thank you for bringing me to my family." OMG I'm tearing up again. How cool is that? What an amazing part she got to play in the lives of these families.
-In other adoption news we have our home study this month. Still firming up the dates. So nervous. Must hire team of miracle workers to prepare my home. Filling out forms is one thing, but this takes us to a whole new level.

Quandry

So a couple of people have asked me why don't I put a Paypal button on my site to accept donations toward the adoption. I haven't done this yet because I'm torn. Some people will look at that and think if we can't afford to adopt then we shouldn't do it. But that means we won't have a family. We spent all our savings over the last year dealing with my medical bills (3 hospital visits, 2 surgeries) and then we found out we couldn't get pregnant. So adoption is our next option- and we've really embraced it. I have never been good at asking for money, even when it's offered up. We do have a seperate account set up at ING for the adoption and we're saving like crazy and budgeting like mad. But we still have to live our lives and that means periodically we might get Chinese take out or see a movie. That's another reason why I haven't posted the button. I don't want people thinking we're spending their money on foolish things. We're gonna make this adoption happen, no matter what. If people want to help, well, that just blows me away. Such kindness from people who may never meet Ling Ling in real life, but would like to see her come home. I am so grateful to those kind folks who have helped already. So I'll ask you my dear bloggy friends, and please be honest, would it seem like panhandling if I put a Paypal button up? Or should I just continue to accept donations via the mail?

I am

On my adoptive mom's to be board on MSN this topic came up the other day and it was interesting. So here's a little peek as to who I am.

I am:
Jon's wife
Ike & Kea's mom
Ling Ling & Mei Mei's mom to be
Morgan & Sara's sister
Jake & Joey's aunt Shanny
allergic to pennicillin & hydrocodiene
5 feet 7 inches tall
a bad driver
a marketer's dream
a bad cutter, chopper & dicer
fair skinned
infertile
happily married
not a fan of heat or sweat
a happy traveler
scared of the dark
itchy- I have excema
a natural blonde
fun to hang with
witty
bossy
a techno geek
a voracious reader
a girlie girl
competitive
a messy cook
a cheap drunk- no tolerance
a great gift giver
a great gift receiver
crafty
easily distracted
persuasive
confident
Irish on both sides through and through
unsure
never on time
thirsty
a good friend
more and more every day

What are you?

Long, long ago

I've been tagged again.

10 Years Ago: I was 22, just starting my first real job. Still recovering from ending a 4 year relationship with my first real love. Spent the rest of the year dating various punks.

5 Years Ago: I was preparing for my March wedding and had been working for my last employer for about a year. Jon and I had just moved in together- my first time living with a boy ever.

1 Year Ago: I was recovering from surgery and a ruptured cyst and dealing with a few rounds of Clomid.

Yesterday: Spent the day at my sister & BIL's new house watching my nephews so my sister could unpack. So fun- getting in practice taking care of babies. Two at once is a lot!

5 Snacks I Enjoy: red grapefruit, grapes, Ritz chips, brie, cereal.

5 Songs I Know All The Words To:

Wally-Aslyn
All That Jazz- Chicago soundtrack
Grease & Grease 2 soundtrack
It takes 2- Rob Bass
I need love- LL Cool J- I swear if I could replace all my brain space that is taken up by song lyrics with productive information, I'd be a millionaire.

5 Things I Would Do With $100 Million:

Retire
Adopt lots of children.
Divide a portion up between our immediate families -- my parents, sisters and Jon's parents -- enough to cover off all their debts and then some
Donate a large portion to charities I believe in -- Susan G. Komen Foundation, church, United Way, and some additional children's charities.
Invest in real estate -- a house in the mountains, etc.

5 Places I Would Run Away To:
Key West
the mountains
Ireland
Las Vegas
French Countryside


5 Things I Would Never Wear:
a tube top
a thong bathing suit
stirrup pants
those butt crack cleavage jeans
stilettos (I would break my neck)


5 Favorite TV Shows:
Scrubs
Grey's Anatomy
Desperate Housewives
Lost
Seinfeld

5 Biggest Joys:
napping with Jon and the pugs
playing with my nephews
dreaming about Ling Ling and adoption day
traveling and exploring new places
game night with the family

5 Favorite Toys:
Digital Camera
eMac
Electra bike
Sony Clie
Old school playstation with Centipede

5 People I Tag To Do This (if you haven't already):
whoever wants to play! just leave me a note in my comments!

Beezelbug

I take my camera everywhere with me. And it's a good thing too because you never know what you're gonna see. Firstly, I forgot to include this cute little candle in the picture of birthday goodness that Ani sent me. And then last night we got invaded. See, we have this ghetto doggy door. The cat, DaBrie, got out one night and wouldn't come back. So we went to bed. Well she came back and clawed her way through the screen door and spent the night between the 2 doors. Well we haven't been able to replace the screen yet, so I just cut it into a nicer looking rectangle and the pugs jump through it. Apparently this huge flying monster from a Biblical plague saw my ghetto doggy door as an open invitation and came on in last night. It ran into my leg, screaming ensued, none of the pets helped. I got over my fright long enough to snap some pics, then Jon bundled him up in a towel and took him back outside. You should have heard all the clicking noises that thing was making. I do believe he was the Beezelbub of the insect world.

Belated

I totally forgot to mention this...Saturday was my blog's 4th birthday! I started blogging a few months after getting married to chronicle our marriage and because it was easier than writing in a journal. I've hopped urls a little bit, so that's why my archives here only go back so far, but I've been blogging faithfully for 4 years now.

In job news...ok here's what I can say about my job right now (more later I promise)- I am working for a great guy who manages a large team of sales agents for a large, established company in the finance/insurance/annuity field. He wants to grow his team while training his new agents in the field. That's where I come in. I'm doing his recruiting, interviewing, scheduling, lead calls, etc. All the stuff he can't do from the field. That way he spends more time out with his clients and agents and I take care of the office stuff. I don't have to wear pantyhose (HALLE FREAKING LUJAH). My hours are really flexible and I can work 2 days a week from home. This is looking to be something I can continue with once my babies are home. Yep, Ani asked if we were looking at adopting more than one, and yes, we're looking to adopt twins. We're asking for them, they are rare in China, and we may not get them, but it doesn't hurt to ask. So I'm really excited about everything. Esp the perks. My boss told me "You know I'm a great gift giver. Hey I love your bag, is that Coach?" Now that's a good sign. A great gift giver who can spot a Coach bag? Sign me up!

She works hard for the money

So today was my second day at my new fabulous job that I haven't told y'all about yet. I looove my boss- he reminds me of Vern from Trading Spaces. I can't say the name of the company, don't wanna be Dooced my first week. I am excited about this job and it's future potential. Plus, I hear there may be a Blackberry somewhere with my name on it. The techno geek in me is way excited.

In adoption news Jon and I wrote our autobiographies this weekend and I mailed them off last night. Jon's was so funny. In the part where you describe what type of child you want he put the basics like 0-12 months, female, twins, but then he added non-smoker. Good thing you cleared that up. How many infants do you know that have the hand eye coordination to smoke!

Contender

Kiki heard there was a touching your nose with your tongue contest going on so she wanted to join in and represent, yo.

Swarm! Swarm!

My sister brought the boys down to visit with their grandma and Papa Hale. Somehow she ended up locking them in the car. Luckily the car was still running, so they had air conditioning- thank God in this 95 degree plus heat!. She called the cops and what happened next I'm sure will make all the local papers. We live in a small town. So small the part of town I live in is called a township. We're like 2 neighborhoods larger than a village people. So our fire department is volunteer and they LIVE for action man. My sister relayed the whole story to me later about how the two trucks come flying into the cul de sac, the firemen jumped out of their trucks and talked into their walkie talkies on their shoulders (We're in! We're in!) and swarmed the car and popped the lock and pulled the boys out (who had no idea they were even in a situation) then the firemen looked around like- Oh, that's it? Sara said they acted like they just pulled the boys out of a well or something. So funny. I mean, I'm so glad my nephews are fine, but I so wish I could have seen that small town action!

Honeymooners

I photographed the scrapbook I made for my sister before I gave it to her. Sara and Marc really love the book and I'm really excited about that. When you've never been to Alaska or Seattle it makes it tough to group the pictures. But I did pretty well, except I put a pic of Marc in Canada in Seattle. Hey, Canada is our friend so what's it matter right? Click here and check it out!

*We were supposed to go to IKEA today but Jon came down with a summer cold and was feeling badly, so we didn't go. We'll go sometime in September I hope. Hang in IKEA, I know it's been a while, but I'll get to you!

Booty

The fabulous Ani sent a goodie box that was out of this world for my birthday. I'm amazed at how well my bloggy girlfriends know me! She sent a beautiful shell bracelet, a cutie owl charm (which is now living on my tote bag), a cool photo bracelet, a ladybug shaped container of bubble bath, 2 very cool paper lanterns that look lovely on the deck (I bring them in so they don't get rained on), and an adorable adoption book "Families are Forever" that features a mom with short blonde hair (like me!) and her Chinese daughter. Thank you so much for the thoughtful gifties Ani!

A face only a mother could love

Jon showed me this article and I just can't get over this dog! He's Sam, a Chinese Crested and he's won the Ugliest Dog contest for 3 years straight. Here's the article. Now some people say that my pugs are so ugly they are cute, and I love dogs, but dag, this little guy looks like the crypt keeper's mutt! Can you imagine rolling over in the middle of the night and opening your eyes to this sight?!?

The festivities continue!

I love it when I get a belated birthday gift- stretches the holiday into a week or longer. I'm open for celebrating my birthday all month long! Monday I received a fabulous box of goodies from Ani (I'll post pics tomorrow) and today I received my present from Miss Lisa. This gorgeous necklace from Red Envelope that says mother & daughter in Chinese. I love it so much! I'll be sure to wear it on the day Ling Ling comes into our lives. I'm so excited to already have something that labels me as a mom!

Model home

This afternoon my mom, Morgan & I went to check out this new swanky neighborhood that's going up down the road from my mom's house. We're talking homes starting at $500k. So you know the models are all tricked out by professional designers. I love getting decorating ideas at these homes. I'm especially looking for ideas for the nursery, or little girl room ideas. I don't want a themed room as I want the room to grow with Ling Ling. But I wouldn't mind a quasi themed room. No wallpaper borders, but maybe a good bit of the accessories would be a theme. I don't know, I'm at a loss. I did like this little bistro corner of one of the girl rooms in the model though. Any ideas/help with decorating a baby girl's nursery would be appreciated!

Scrappy

Shannon came over yesterday afternoon and we worked on our scrapbooks. I got so much done! I'm so excited. I've been working on this one book for my sister & BIL for...forever. It's their honeymoon scrapbook! They have been married now for over 3 years and have 2 kids. Nothing like being a little fashionably late!

Can I get a witness?

I sent off our first round of many, many forms and our first big check on Friday. I had a great conversation with the lady at the copy/mail place who was asking about adoption because she's looking into it, so I got a little distracted. I went to bed that night and just as I was about to fall asleep....DOH! 3 of the forms required a witness signature and guess who forgot to get a witness? Looks like I'll be making another appearance at the copy/mail place sooner than I thought! Those people at the agency are so gonna deny me a child- I can't even get forms filled out right!

Carrot Top

I just have to share this photo of my little sister Sara and my nephew Jake. No doubting who his mama is! Look at that gorgeous hair!

So tell me...

I've been on 3 interviews this week alone. They've made me think of all the interviews I used to give. I was a human resource manager for a grocery store chain for 4 years. I hired at the store level and would also go and open stores- do mass hires where I'd interview 30-40 people a day. I've seen all kinds baby.
Some of my most memorable interview tidbits:
Young dude, probably 20 years old: So what exactly do you mean by 'occasionally' when you say "Do you occasionally smoke marijuana?" Ok, well thanks for your time.
Woman, mid 30's, after I ask her if she has any questions for me about the interview process so far: Yeah, so I just wanna start out by letting you know I'm a lesbian. Just wanna get that out on the table. Alright. Well, good for you. Not sure what that has to do with how well you can slice meat in the deli, but thanks for sharing.
Teenager, clearly uncomfortable in his first job interview ever. I've just asked why does he want to work there.: I don't. My mom made me come. . What a go getter!
Man, late 30's early 40's smelling of last night's drinking binge: I got fired from my last job for drinking, but that's all under control now. Don't touch the stuff. As I'm sitting there getting drunk off his fumes!
Cutie cutie college student boy, 20, clearly confident in his looks: You have great hair. I hired him. Duh. I paid him top of scale. We went out off and on for a year. Made out in my office a good bit. Ah, memories.
Amazing what people will tell you, like they don't realize you're the one who's going to make or break their job chances!

But I'm a delicate flower!

Ok so it has been rumored that I, ahem, snore. Not just snore, but drool, talk, and make a variety of quite unlady like noises while I sleep. Jon snores like a bear so this isn't a problem at home, but it hit me that around this time next year we'll be sharing a hotel room with someone new. A tiny, scared, little someone who is handed over to 2 big white people and forced to sleep in a crib in a hotel while they rattle the windows with their snoring! What are we gonna do? Ling Ling will be scared out of her wits! And those poor poor people on the plane! I can't make it out of city limits on a trip without falling asleep so you know I'll be snoozing on a 14 hour flight! Perhaps I should send out warnings, like a public service announcement!

I've been tagged

By NCTRNL so here goes! “List ten songs that you are currently digging ... it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're no good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the ten songs in your blog. Then tag five other people to see what they're listening to."

Starry Eyed Surprise- Paul Oakenfold
Bless the Broken Road- Rascal Flatts
Your Love- The Outfield
Unwritten- Natasha Bedingfield
Wally- Aslyn
In Your Room- The Bangles
Que Onda Guero- Beck
Gotta Get Up From Here- Ellie Lawson
Mr. Brightside- The Killers
Bella Luna- Jason Mraz

Now I tag: Ani, Andrea, Julie, Shannon & Janet. I'm sure a very interesting mix will come from this group!

Ni hao Jon

Yeah so we were at the atm making a deposit and Jon said here use my card. Playing around I hit the button for Chinese and now when he tries to use his atm card the machine will only show Chinese text on the screen! Benefits: keeps him from spending so much since he can't get $ out now & this will get him used to the Chinese way of writing so he'll be all set when we're in China next year!

Speck

When I travel around to different towns and places I wonder about the people who live there. So many people that I've never met and will probably never meet. All these people with their own dramas and lives. Makes you realize what a little speck on the earth we really are. I wonder if I should try living somewhere else. Like is life better in New York? Or Podunk, Iowa? I love love love living here, and can't imagine living far away from my family, and I think that's what keeps people living where they live. If it weren't for jobs and bills and mortgages and now homestudies, I think I would love to spend a year living in say Spain or Sweden or on a group of tiny islands no one has heard of. But we're about to bring children into our home and we know we are living in a great place to raise kids.
So I wonder, why do you live where you live? And would you live somewhere else if you could? Where?

Faux Pug

This is one of the presents I received from my sister Sara for my birthday. Too funny! Ike didn't quite know what to think about this pug who won't run and play. Now, I just need to find the perfect place for it.

Crash

I had my first bike crash tonight and I wasn't even on it! Lesson learned- don't load up your basket and expect bike to stay upright! My purse, water bottle, all sorts of stuff flew all over the driveway. I wouldn't normally ride with my purse but we had just gotten home and I wanted to go out for a quick ride. Now my cute little basket has a big ghetto dent! Jon thinks he can hammer it out for me. He just stood there shaking his head as I collected lip gloss and loose change from the driveway. "I can't buy you anything nice!"

Family Feud

We spent the late afternoon and evening at my Mom's today. Hanging out by the pool, playing with the boys, grilling out, playing Family Feud. So fun. I love a busy hustly bustly house. My nephew Joey is now 6 months old and is just the cutest thing. He's so ready to be able to run and talk and play. My other nephew Jake is 2 yrs and 4 mos old and is so smart and so sweet and has the best time playing in the pool. Jon and Marc just love hanging out together grilling and having a beer. We split up girls against the boys to play Family Feud.
-Boys cheat.
-For the question "Name a food you don't have to chew to eat" Hale yells out "Porridge!". Ok Tiny Tim!
-Boys yell stupid answers at girls while girls are trying to come up with the top 5 answers. Yelling "swimming pool cleaner" when we're trying to come up with "occupations where you need to be good at math" does not help!
We had a great time although it still isn't clear who one! Some pictures here.

32 Fabulous things about my birthday and today

1. Got a haircut yesterday morning and that means having someone wash your hair. mmmm
2. Then picked up a green tea frapp @ Star$- yum. Found out they use melon syrup in those things. That's what the mystery taste is!
3. Continued the pampering mode and treated myself to a pedicure. I haven't had one since January and I'm sure the dude was thinking he should raise the prices with feet like mine! He did tell me I wasn't allowed to ever get a French mani or pedi because my nails are so small that they'd be all white.
4. Confirmed all 3 of the people who will be doing our reference letters for the adoption. Yay! They were all so sweet about it and even said they'd be honored.
5. Book I'd been waiting on for weeks finally came in for me at the library. Can't wait to start reading it.
6. Went to inlaws' for dinner. MIL & FIL went all out and made a fabulous dinner of scalloped potatoes, broccoli, baked brie, and ham.
7. MIL made famous cheesecake for dessert. This is the best cheesecake I've ever had, hands down. She made it last year for my birthday then lost the recipe. Tore the house apart last month looking for it. Found it. Yay! I'm not a regular cake lover. I'd rather have pie or cheesecake or ice cream. This cheesecake though- yum.
8. Laughed so hard at dinner I almost hurt myself.
9. Marsha & Larry were there (good friends of inlaw's- like our cool aunt and uncle or something). They are so awesome.
10. M&L surprised us by offering to buy one of our round trip tickets to China so we'd only have to pay for one. That way we will be able to afford business class. !!! This is huge people!
11. Received multiple birthday checks, all going straight into ING account- Ling Ling fund.
12. Received fabulous gifts from MIL & FIL including gorgeous flip flops that have a certain Asian flare.
13. Accepted invitation to murder mystery dinner theatre party at M&L's in October. We get to play parts and dress up. SO fun! I've never been to one of these!
14. Got home way too late and decided that was the time to do something with those unruly eyebrows. Shaved left one right off at the middle part when slipped with Jon's beard trimmer. I am now the fresh prince of SC.
15. Read many wonderful birthday wishes and ecards from my fabulous bloggy people! You guys rock! Thank you so much!
16. Slept in this morning and woke up to lots of pug love.
17. Went to a delicious lunch today with husband at a wonderful locally owned, very Southern place. Had terrific shrimp and grits.
18. Took our very full bellies to a matinee of Bad News Bears. Laughed so hard.
19. Received very sweet cards in mail. Displayed on mantle.
20. Got call back from prospective employer of job I really want (not the one I already took), to schedule face to face interview for next week.
21. After hair stylist poofed my hair up to look like a pineapple yesterday it really calmed down and looked quite nice today.
22. Stopped in Michaels after movie and found exactly what I needed (white seed beads) in less than 5 minutes.
23. Found bonus clasps for jewelry making on clearance.
24. Shopped in Target for essentials after Michaels. No exciting purchases, but just love Target.
25. Made earrings I'm wearing today in less than 5 minutes before going out. Tres cute.
26. Found out I wasn't receiving Family Feud for birthday from family. Looked for it at Target. Sold out.
27. Stopped in Wal-Mart just to check if they had it. Jon said if it was there he'd get it for me for my present (I got the bike last week). Sure enough they had 1 copy. It was meant to be. And it was cheaper than Target.com
28. Threw up in sink when we got home from shopping. Not so fabulous, but hey, made it to sink.
29. Spent entire day with wonderful husband- we have the best time together.
30. Then he hushed me as I squealed with delight in Wal-mart over finding Fam. Feud while talking on phone with Shannon who was calling to see did I want to go to Wal-mart with her. Spoooky psychic connection.
31. Played round of new FF game when we got home. Jon beat me, bad, but didn't brag.
32. Even though we had IKEA plans for this weekend and they were screwed up by a scheduling snafu, we were able to reschedule to go with Jon's parents on the 20th. Woohoo!

It's my party

I turn 32 today! 32 isn't especially exciting, but birthdays in general are. I just love them- a holiday all for you!

Lifelong dream

One of my lifelong dreams, a goal I must meet before I die, is to be on the Family Feud & The Price is Right. I love those shows. I have the old version of Family Feud at home, but it is from the 60's so the answers and questions are really dated. Like name a music star you'd better come up with Dean Martin or you're out. But now I see they have come out with a new Family Feud on dvd! I'm so excited! I will hint around wildly to my family and maybe it will be mine!
In other birthday news, I got the sweetest card from Bethanie (thank you!!!) and a package from Jon's Gramy in Minnesota. I just love her. She sent a couple of kids books for Ling Ling and Mei Mei and is just so excited about this adoption. She's especially excited that she'll finally have great-grandchildren with black hair like she had! And it took a blonde to get it!